Building drag strips in California? You gotta
be kidding!
7/7/03
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Darr
Hawthorne has over 20 years of experience
in the entertainment business and
television commercial industry as
a marketing representative, executive
producer, commercial producer, and
film editor. As a producer and editor
he won many national and international
advertising awards.
Darr
acquired his addiction to drag racing
in 1964 when he toured to the U.S.
Nationals with Wild Bill Shrewsberry
and Jack Chrisman. He also worked
on Division 7 Sportsman crews in
the 1970s & early '80s. He's been
a freelance motorsports journalist
covering NHRA, nostalgia drags,
NASCAR, and IRL. He's been a Touring
Professional Spectator, and is currently
helping his son build a '64 Chevy
II Funny Car.
He
will contribute his thoughts to
DRO as the mood strikes him. He
is from California, after all.
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 ions,
Irwindale, Fontana, Santa Ana, OCIR, San Fernando,
Riverside. . . at one time those legendary
names were fixtures for SoCal drag racers. Now,
two of those names are back at different locations
and new drag strips may be popping up all over
the Golden State. They're back after enormous
effort, lengthy negotiations, planning meetings,
executive city council sessions, environmental
impact studies, and meetings with local citizen's
councils.
It wasn't as easy as the first time around,
but after decades of "The Last Drag Race" syndrome,
there are actually racecars heading down newly
created eighth-mile and quarter-mile strips
in the Los Angeles and San Diego areas.
According to a source at NHRA in Glendora,
there are more than a handful of dragstrip projects
contemplated for the State of California; one
is apparently looking into the north San Fernando
Valley for a street legal eighth-mile.
IRWINDALE DRAGSTRIP
The new Irwindale Dragstrip is actually the
fifth racetrack in that area and is part of
the very successful Irwindale Speedway NASCAR-sanctioned
track.
Photo by Darr Hawthorne
Irwindale runs a competitive program on their
eighth-mile with mufflers required and a robust,
loyal following on Thursdays and some Sundays.
Often on Thursday nights you'll find well over
200 cars in the staging lanes and a couple thousand
spectators. A strong combination of pro streets,
muscle cars, sport compacts, street machines,
and motorcycles have become regulars. There
was some trouble in the grandstands last year,
but much improved security has reinvigorated
both spectators and racers as a strict 10:00
PM curfew keeps the nearby residents relatively
happy.
A unique program with local police and Irwindale
Dragstrip has created the "Speeding Ticket"
where cops can issue a free entry to the eighth-mile
in lieu of a court appearance. The strip is
under the direction of former NHRA veteran Gene
Bergstrom and announcer John Partridge keeps
the crowd involved. http://irwindaledragstrip.com
CALIFORNIA DRAGWAY
Fontana now has California Dragway; a quarter-mile
built in a parking
lot on the southern-most part of California
Speedway. Running on a regular basis for most
of the good summer months by Pomona Drags' Stan
Adams, their two-day weekend meets draw 500
car counts for many weekly Street Legal races
under NHRA sanction. The hopes for a more permanent
solution have begun at California Dragway as
plans call for a 330-foot concrete launch pad,
permanent tower and media center, tall sound
barriers, and a facilities upgrade will allow
for race cars running as quick at 7.50 ET's.
Thanks to International Speedway Corporation's
wallet and current improvements, the dragstrip
will be host to the Mopar NOPI L.A. Race Wars
on October 18-19. http://californiaspeedway.com
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